7'' front cover U.K.

7'' rear cover U.K.

7'' a side U.K.

7'' b side U.K.

"Nobody's Fool" was written by lead singer Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea and produced by Chas Chandler. The single was released via Polydor Record Label on 9th April 1976.
This single failed to appear on the U.K. chart, unusual for Slade whose previous 17 singles entered the top 20. This was the 1st time that the band had failed to chart with a single since 1970.
"Nobody's Fool" appeared on their 1976 album "Nobody's Fools".

Background
From this single, the band found themselves in a commercial decline after U.K. fans accused the band of 'selling out' and forgetting about their fan base in the U.K., as the band had been in U.S.A. for most of 1975, trying to crack the market. This single featured Tasha Thomas doing backing vocals, the 1st to feature female backing vocal in a Slade track.
The single a - side features an edited piano introduction, compared to their "Nobody's Fools" album version, cutting the song by 50 seconds. Another alternate edit shortened the track further, cutting only 20 seconds from the album version. A further edit was made for the U.S.A. release of the single, cutting the song by almost one minute and a half.
The European b-side "L.A. Jinx" tells of the bad luck that Slade always seemed to accompany the band whenever they played L.A. The American release featured the track "When the Chips are Down" as the b-side. This track was originally b-side to the band's previous single "Let's Call It Quits". Both b-sides were produced by Chas Chandler.
Some versions of the single incorrectly titled the song as "Nobody's Fools".

Recording
"Nobody's Fool" was released via Polydor Record Label on 9th April 1976.
Upon recording the song in 1976, bassist / co writer Jim Lea was really into Queen's music, with all the harmonies, solo piano breaks etc. Therefore it was intended that "Nobody's Fool" would be some 20 minute extravaganza, with everything thrown in. Later, when it was discussed, it was obvious that this type of number wouldn't appeal to the stomping Slade fan of the day. Thus the band only recorded a short version of the piece but even that, which featured the unheard of act of female backing vocalists show what an adventurous number it was. It was true that this wouldn't have appealed to Slade fans at the time, as when a single version of the number was released, it flopped breaking Slade's run of 17 top 20 single in a row.

Release
"Nobody's Fool" was originally released on 7" vinyl.
Upon release, Record Mirror magazine gave a thumbs up, symbolising an expected hit. The magazine reviewed the single, "Title track from their latest album, and released to coincide with Slade's celebrations of 10 years in the business, this is 1 of the best singles Slade have released for ages. Very catchy, from the first hearing. Bright and bouncy, and Slade at their best. Instant hit."

Promotion
A music video was created for the single however no U.K. TV performances were recorded. The song was performed once on American TV although this broadcast has never been seen since the original airing.
A monumental video for this single was filmed at St. Johns Wood Studios. It featured Slade on stage with 2 female singers who shared the microphones with Dave Hill and Jim Lea. The ladies in question were from New York and Lea found out at a later date that 1 of them wasn’t even a singer at all. The production company for this film was Trilion Video and the director Bruce Gowers was the same bloke that did Queen’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. "Nobody’s Fool" lyrics featured ‘lions roaring’, ‘heavens thundering’, ‘flamingos flying out’ etc., and as these were sung, film was projected behind Slade of the appropriate situations happening.
This video was the most complex 1 made to date, but unfortunately it only received 1 U.K. television showing, that being on Sally James’s LWT show ‘Saturday Scene’.

Chart Performance
"Nobody's Fool" single failed to enter the U.K. top 100 singles chart.

Track listing - 7" U.K. Single
A1. Nobody's Fool (Noddy Holder, Jim Lea) - 3:50
B1. L.A. Jinx (Noddy Holder, Jim Lea) - 3:57

Nobody's Fool
"Nobody's Fool" written by Holder and Lea, was originally released via Polydor Record Label on 9th April 1976 and failed to chart on the U.K. chart.
The track features Tasha Thomas on backing vocals. The 1st time a female singer had appeared on Slade material. Chris Ingham of Rock Backpages stated ""Nobody's Fool" has a rousing chorus, a stinging guitar lick, thunders agreeably along with the added bonus of Tash Thomas and co's soulful backing vocals." The single version has an edited piano introduction. Allmusic wrote "The title track is excellent, but marred by a bad arrangement."
This single appeared on their album "Nobody's Fools".

L.A. Jinx
"L.A. Jinx" written by Holder and Lea, this was the b - side to Slades original single "Nobody's Fool".
The lyrics refer to the bad luck the band had in Los Angeles. Chris Ingham wrote "The track is notable for some elaborately double tracked guitar parts, some virtuoso bass work for Lea in the verses and an archetypal Slade crunch in the chorus."
In the Slade Fan Club Newsletter of February and March 1976, the track was described by the editor. "This 1 says it all really about the group's experiences over the past few years. And I'm glad to say that they sing about their American worries ending. In other words the band has conquered their fears about working and living in America. At 1st their experiences there were not good, but now judging from this album everything has worked out. Holder is on good form here, and the new musical strength of the band is at its best."

Credits
Dave Hill - lead guitar
Noddy Holder - lead vocals, guitar
Jim Lea - bass guitar, piano
Don Powell - drums
Tasha Thomas - backing vocals on "Nobody's Fool"
Chas Chandler - producer